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Freedom of worship is the first right outlined in the American Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Yet, spiritual and religious freedom continues to be a complex and divisive...

Hate among members of a community is not a new phenomenon; it's actually about as old as civilization itself. All human beings have the capacity to hate. However, what's different about hate in modern society is its speed - the...

President Donald J. Trump’s rapid political rise and subsequent election to the presidency, while a surprise to many political experts and polls, was a welcome change for the millions of Americans who identified with his messages. In the post-election months,...

Throughout history, streets have served as a point of connection. From people to horses, carriages to street cars, public transit to automobiles, streets provide the main medium for travel, connecting us to work, home, and the people and places we...

Clean energy is big business in the U.S. and around the world. In the electricity sector, global investments in new renewable energy capacity are outstripping those for fossil fuel. Meanwhile, rapid advancements in energy storage and electric vehicles are transforming...

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In late April, Business Insider ranked the top 40 U.S. metropolitan areas on economic strength. They used a number of metrics - unemployment rate and average...

On May 14, we debuted our ConstitutionALE series with a forum on gerrymandering. Nearly all the audience questions pertained to the effect the 2020 census will have on representation and the future drawing of districts - and so our June...

If streets are the medium that connect us to place, it can be argued that the physical structures that comprise our neighborhoods– homes, libraries, office buildings, stores and restaurants, and theatres – provide the anchor. However, there is often an...

Walk into almost any corner store and you'll find the cost of a bottle of soda is likely less than a bottle of water. It's a strange conundrum that speaks to the economic conditions that create challenges for so many...

According to a United Nations report, more than half of the world's population reside in cities - and, if current trends continue, that number will likely increase to 66 percent by 2050. For many urban areas, this growth will strain...

Infant mortality rates, defined as the death of a baby before his or her first birthday, have declined 15 percent between 2004 and 2015, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health...

Historically, the term health often referred to simply the presence or absence of disease. Today, it is commonly recognized that health encompasses not only physical components, but social, economic, and environmental ones as well. Urban communities often face higher health...

National Geographic, the official magazine of the National Geographic Society, debuted in 1888 as a professional publication for scientists and geologists. Over the decades, the magazine evolved, moving from technical articles to narrative to storytelling - and including stunning photography...

A few years ago, the country watched in horror as the national media descended on Flint, Michigan. A switch in drinking water sources - from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River - had caused nearly 100,000...

Over the last several decades, Youngstown and Warren, like many smaller Midwestern legacy cities, have experienced economic and social decline due to expanded poverty, an aging population, disinvestment in neighborhoods, deteriorating housing stock, aging infrastructure, high unemployment, and a work...

When we speak of place, it’s easy to imagine and discuss the physical structures we inhabit - the parks, streets, and buildings we encounter every day. But while these physical manifestations of place are integral to the notion of placemaking,...

Today in Ohio, more than 400,000 adults and children receive behavioral health services - encompassing both mental health and substance use services - at a cost of approximately $900 million. Furthermore, Medicaid members needing treatment for mental health or substance...

One of the bedrocks of the American democracy is our commitment to free speech - the robust, open exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives. Furthermore, the creation of our two-party system was implemented to protect America from entering into another...

During his campaign for Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto made government transparency and accountability two of his top priorities. During his first year, the Department of Innovation and Performance was established. Out of it came the Burgh's Eye View app,...

Clevelander Dave Lucas became the Ohio Poet Laureate in January 2018. Lucas succeeds Dr. Amit Majmudar of Columbus, the state's first poet laureate after Governor Kasich created the position in 2014.
As poet laureate, part of Lucas' mission is to...

Cape Town, South Africa, one of Africa's most affluent cities, may be the first city in the world to run out of municipal water. Population growth, overdevelopment, and climate change, coupled with rising inequality and political dysfunction, have converged to...

The mention of pollution in our lakes, rivers, and oceans often evokes images of sea turtles trapped in the plastic rings that bind aluminum cans together. But while traveling "garbage patches" affect our ocean's, fish, and wildlife, the Great Lakes...

N. Scott Momaday, a writer, teacher, artist and storyteller, has devoted much of his life to safeguarding oral tradition and other aspects of Indian culture. He was born a Kiowa in Oklahoma and grew up in the Indian southwest. He...